Sunday, August 17, 2014

_Cambio Cambio Cambio_

We haven't gone on any adventures these past couple weeks as we've been helping build a deck for my aunt, so I'll just leave you with some Holga shots from the archives, taken in Buenos Aires last year. I love the chaotic look of the two holgaramas, which are now fittingly a good reflection of the economic mess Argentina is buried in (they've defaulted on their public debt for the 8th time). In case you're not familiar, John Oliver did a great and hilarious piece on this issue a few weeks back on Last Week Tonight.

Interesting bit from when we were in B.A - locals told us that inflation was so extreme that you could buy a new car or fridge, and 6 months later, it was worth more (dollar figure wise) than when you bought it. Also of note, to prevent the flight to foreign currency in the face of a rapidly weakening Argentinean Peso, the Argentine gov't had prohibited the purchase of US dollars by locals. As a result, they turned to selling foreigners local currency illegally out of random store fronts (creating what they termed a "blue market") at a much better rate than what the banks were selling. We quietly exchanged US dollars for Pesos from a cabbie, a newspaper vendor, and some other unlikely businesses, all brokered by shady dudes on the street repeatedly saying 'Cambio Cambio Cambio' (foreign exchange) to get your attention, before they would lead you away to some random secluded spot or store to deal away. For all the secrecy, and back alley dealing, you'd think we were trying to smuggle guns to Russian thugs in the Ukraine or something. #Putingrad.